She Was 39 When She Had Me, And Now She's 71!

Yesterday was my momma's 71st birthday. I have to say (maybe I'm biased) that she doesn't LOOK 71 nor does she ACT 71. She is still the same lady today that she was when I was a kid. She gets her nails done regularly and gets her hair done every week by her childhood buddy. She's always on the "look out" for a pretty diamond ring, necklace, or earrings. I inherited my love of diamonds from her. Another thing I inherited is the need to wear high heels. She is the high heel queen. She had a total knee replacement surgery last year and couldn't wait to get the heels on again. I respect that. She is also a very, very, very, very, clean and organized person. Growing up, I had many house rules that my friends didn't understand. We were not allowed to sit on a bed that was made, we weren't allowed to run water in the sink after she had cleaned and "polished" it (it's stainless steel and we couldn't have any water spots in the sink ya know), and everyone was banned from the upstairs shower. (It was too hard to clean). Baths only, until I got in high school and she relented and let me shower in the downstairs bathroom. Now we all know that to the outsider these rules are crazy, but to me, that's just how it was. I will say I am glad she passed the cleaning craziness down to me, but I am a little less OCD and don't have any bed/sink/shower rules. There's no way in you know where that Jesse would follow those rules anyway. When we were dating, he would move things around in the kitchen just to bug my mom-and it did! Anyway, long story short, as most people think their mom is the greatest, and I am still in the same boat. I don't know what I would do without her and even though we aren't the mushy type of family, I have to say I love her and hope she has many, many, many more birthdays to come.